LETTERS

The mystery continues

I recently wrote about a key. It remains around my neck, a constant reminder that I have a mission to perform.

I still don’t have the solution, and I don’t know if I ever will. My late wife, Phyllis Yvonne, did however leave a clue before she passed away on Feb. 19, 2009, in Ogden, Utah.

During her illness she developed the art of writing down letters and numbers in a tiny, almost microscopic, manner.

Before I gave her last few belongings to her daughter Tracee Dawn, I came across a small acorn. It was wrapped in a silk cloth, placed in a pink box and tied with a white ribbon.

On the acorn itself was written, “John, I love you. Tell Tracee I need her forgiveness. You, Gideon [my nickname] will find the answer to life’s greatest challenge. Find it in the ‘Holy Koran’ that Zafar arranged for you to have.”

I have a problem with this. You see, I recently gave this most valuable possession of mine to an incredible young man who is serving a mission for Jesus Christ for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been transferred to the Mississippi field of labor and I have sent word of my predicament. I am hoping that a careful search, page by page, of the Koran, which is written in both Arabic and English, will provide clarification.

Perhaps I will speak to Zafar soon and he could provide some insight.

Please read along. I hope to soon know the answer to this mystery.

JOHN MURLE GREEN

North Little Rock

He pulled the trigger

My thanks go out to Lt. Gov. Mark Darr for signing the bill protecting our concealed-carry permit holders from being published (Governor Beebe wouldn’t).

As a footnote, I am against any new gun-control laws such as what the Democrats in the U.S. Senate are trying to enact. Many thanks to those who vote to protect our Second Amendment rights.

Voters are watching.

WES SHNAEKEL

White Hall

One quandary solved

Here is one for the downtrodden Paul Greenberg. I, for one, may not always like an editorial. However, he has a job to do and if he steps on tender toes, so be it.

Just to let the paper know, if Mary Fish stops buying the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,I will buy a couple of extra copies to take up the slack. If she doesn’t like Mr. Greenberg, she shouldn’t read the editorials. Lots of other reading material in this paper.

There, I’ve solved another earth-shattering problem.

PEGGY WOLFE

Pangburn

A worthy replacement

Tom Dillard indicates that many Arkansas teachers would benefit from more exposure to Arkansas history. Indeed, an appreciation of Arkansas’ history and heritage should be fostered among all its citizens.

A vehicle which, in my opinion, could be used to enhance public awareness of Arkansas’ achievements is House Bill 2185, which proposes a change in the statues representing Arkansas in Statuary Hall in the U.S.Capitol. I believe U.M. Rose should keep his place, but James Clarke has not stood the test of time and is unknown to all but a few with a specialized interest in Arkansas history.

An individual who should be considered in any discussion of a replacement is J. William Fulbright. Fulbright graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1925. After studying at Oxford and George Washington universities, he returned to the UA as a law lecturer,then president. Fulbright was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1942 and to the Senate in 1944, where he served until 1974, serving as chairman of the foreign relations committee from 1959 until 1974.

Fulbright is best remembered for the Fulbright Program of international fellowships and scholarships, founded to promote world peace and international understanding. This program has flourished for over 60 years, operating in 155 countries and serving more than 300,000 participants.

Fulbright’s statue in Statuary Hall would serve as reminder that this great program’s genesis came from an Arkansan.

RICHARD A. BLAND

Rogers

Hows about a drink?

Philip Martin’s liberal insanity apparently would punish homeowners whose burgled guns are put to criminal use. This legal theory is about as erudite as that of a drunken sot trying to explain why he favors a certain brand of whiskey: Reason is not the issue, only personal tastes. Martin’s political tastes tend to trend toward communistic control of things he does not like, their constitutionality or, dare we say fairness, being irrelevant to him.

His column on spirits, however, makes clear his love for alcohol. For example, a recent column, which was not distillery in nature but historical, nonetheless included the phrase, “a Saturday morning cold and bright as a gin martini.” Mr. Martin seems to love his firewater as much as others love their firearms.

Perhaps a sort of a trading of shots is in order, gunshots versus gin shots. Which has wrecked more lives in American peacetime, arms or alcohol? I don’t expect those of Mr.

Martin’s persuasion to seriously consider the comparison, so maybe a sad compromise is the best we can achieve. Don’t infringe any further the right of law-abiding citizens to shoot, and as for those whose hobby is shots of the more destructive kind, the kind championed by one of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s resident columnists, they would probably say, “You can have my gin when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.”

That’s exactly how it often goes down, yet we don’t hear many diatribes against alcohol any more, do we? We are too cultured for that.

BRUCE TUCKER

Lonoke

On state’s roads again

After living in Little Rock for 20 years, I am convinced that the highway engineers who draw up the plans for new highways, if asked to draw plans for a mouse, we would get the world’s biggest elephant.

Also, let’s change the state nickname from The Natural State to The State of the Orange Barrels.

JOE HEALY

Little Rock

Thanks for pick-me-up

I would like to thank the young man who so graciously offered to lift me up and put me back into our car when he saw me lying in front of the Rogers Women’s Thrift Store, where I had fallen. I would like him to know I will not run a marathon today, but there were no broken bones. Many thanks also to the ambulance personnel and the nurses and doctors at the hospital who were so kind.

Those curbs are simply getting taller!

ROSA LARGENT

Pea Ridge

Editorial, Pages 73 on 03/24/2013

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